Join Sex Professionals of Canada @ The Dyke March!!Saturday June 25th, 2005 @ 2pmMeet us at Church & Hayden(look for the Sex Pro's of Canada banner)

Hundreds of sex workers remain missing and/or have been murdered, most of whom are people of color. Violence and the reported murder rate of trans people is at an all time high. Yet, these alarming issues remain invisible in our communities.

Currently, prostitution is not illegal in Canada. However, laws around activities such as communicating in public effectively criminalize sex work. These laws serve to demonize, endanger and divorce us from the rest of society. This year, SPOC will be marching in the Dyke march. We will be:

Celebrating the contributions of sex workers, street youth, street workers, trans people, and people of color at the Dyke March.

Raising awareness of the hundreds of missing and murdered sexworkers in Canada, many of whom are native and people of color.

Protesting the criminalization of sex work by the Federal government and demanding the decriminalization (but notlegalization) of sex work.

Supporting the Dyke March coordinators past and present, who have worked without recognition to keep Dyke March politicized and increase inclusion.

The sections in the Criminal Code of Canada affecting sex workers are:

Procuring (section 212), i.e. 'Living on the avails'
This law makes it illegal for anyone to be habitually in our company or live wholly or partly on our earnings. It is being used to target people we work with, associate with, and our friends and families.

Bawdy House Law (section 210)
This law makes it illegal for us to start our own businessesand/or work out of our own homes.

Communicating Law (section 213)
This law makes it illegal for us to communicate with our clients.